Presently known hybrid vehicles utilize a combination of an electric drive motor and an internal combustion engine to power and propel the vehicle. Typically, the hybrid vehicles use an electric air conditioning compressor including a compression mechanism such as a scroll compression mechanism, for example, driven by an electric motor. An advantage of using the electric air conditioning compressor compared to a belt-driven compressor is the electric compressor can be operated independent of the internal combustion engine. Accordingly, the electric compressor can continue to operate when the internal combustion engine is turned off.
In many cases, hybrid vehicles and non-hybrid vehicles are manufactured from a single platform employing many of the same components. The hybrid vehicles typically use the same internal combustion engine as the non-hybrid vehicles and employ a substantially similar mounting location for the internal combustion engine. Accordingly, a desired mounting location for the electric compressor of the hybrid vehicles is where the belt-driven compressor is mounted in the non-hybrid vehicles. This allows a vehicle manufacturer to utilize the same air conditioning components (e.g. suction lines and discharges lines) in the hybrid vehicles that are used in the non-hybrid vehicles.
Rotating machinery such as air conditioning compressors, however, inherently generate substantial noise and vibration due to sliding and rolling contact of mating internal parts and a compression of a refrigerant disposed therein. The noise and vibration is an issue that continuously needs to be addressed with each vehicle application, and is of greater concern in hybrid vehicles which are quieter than the non-hybrid counterpart. Conventional air conditioning compressors, both belt-driven and electric, are generally mounted to a vehicle engine or body by a plurality of mounting lugs. The mounting lugs are typically cast into and are integral with a housing of the compressor. As a result, the vibration of the compressor is transmitted through the mounting lugs to the vehicle engine or body, creating an undesirable noise inside a vehicle passenger cabin and causing a substantial noise to emanate directly from the compressor.
It would be desirable to develop an integrated mounting and damping system for a compressor, which efficiently and cost effectively minimizes vibration and noise of the compressor, while substantially maintaining an existing package size thereof.